Tendulkar and Zaheer retirement discussion [Poll added]

[India-KXIP fan]

Quick 100 today

[Number]

:two_thumbs_up:

[SLICKR392]

Article by Lawrence Booth (@the_topspin). He was in the stadium watching the Mumbai-Railway Ranji Match.

If there really is a gap between Sachin Tendulkar bat and front pad, it wasnÃÕ immediately obvious at the Wankhede on Friday. Of all the questions currently swirling around India Test batting line-up and there are several the state of Tendulkar reflexes is, as they say, right up there. Everyone has a different take on the likely date of his retirement: some say he will go after the second Test against England here in Mumbai, his home town; others reckon he will wait until the end of the series; a few scoff at the idea that heÃÃl do anything other than impersonate Ol Man River. This is, after all, his fourth decade as an international cricketer and all-Indian phenomenon. One wag suggested his dream was to bat in a Test match with his son Arjun. Arjun is 13. But whenever Doomsday arrives, there is general agreement about the fact that he could do with some runs. He was bowled three times out of three during IndiaÃÔ most recent home Test series by New Zealand seamers who are handy, but not devastating then endured a horrible Champions Trophy with Mumbai Indians in South Africa. Cricketers who have been operating since the 1980s are allowed the occasional dip in form. But Tendulkar is now 39, the age at which most cricketers are ex-cricketers. And he is, well, Tendulkar. So when he walked out to bat at 1.19pm local time for Mumbai against Railways on the first day of the new Ranji Trophy season India first-class competition it fair to say that there was more than the usual interest. The clues that his Mumbai side had won the toss came at the stadium gates, where spectators queued in the treacherous hope of a couple of early wickets for the Railways bowlers. In the event, they had to wait nearly four hours for the star attraction, including a tantalising moment 10 minutes before lunch when Mumbai second wicket fell, and out walked... Rohit Sharma. Taking it easy in his first Ranji game for three years, Tendulkar had decided to go in at No 5. Then, nearly 40 minutes after the break, Sharma was run out chancing a quick single, and the thousand or so spectators concentrated almost exclusively in the Vijay Merchant Pavilion rose to acclaim a player they have evidently not tired of watching. Tendulkar rotated his neck, widened his eyes to take in the light, jogged on the spot, brushed away a couple of blemishes on the pitch real or imagined and calmly defended his first ball, from left-arm spinner Murali Kartik. Only Tendulkar could have earned a round of applause for such mundanity. Perhaps it was borne of relief. Yet it turned out there was little reason to be worried. As well as scoring an unfeasible amount of runs for India, Tendulkar has husbanded an impressive first-class record for Mumbai: 3,865 runs before Friday at an average of 89, with 16 hundreds. And soon he was off again, tucking his sixth ball, from left-arm seamer Hardik Rathod, off his hip for two, pinching a quick single here and there in the V, then crashing Anureet SinghÃÔ right-arm seam through point for his first boundary. It had taken him 39 minutes and the crowd evidently thought it was worth the wait. After that and a fortuitous Chinese cut to the fine-leg fence off Rathod Tendulkar started to play his shots against the Railways spinners, lofting Ashish YadavÃÔ slow left-armers over mid-on for four, then easing a full-toss down the ground next ball for four more. Shortly before tea, he got into position for the slog-sweep, and deposited Shivkant Shukla over long-on for six. At the break, he had 40 from 58 balls, and was beginning to look the part. What followed in the final session was writ through with a strange inevitability. Warming to his theme, Tendulkar took 21 off an over from Yadav, and was soon completing his 79th first-class hundred and his first since January 2011. By the time he cut Rathod to second slip, he had made 137 from 136 balls, with 21 fours and three sixes. England will expect to pose more of a threat to his future than the Railways bowlers, but this was about more than massaging his Ranji Trophy numbers. Tendulkar may just be at that point in his career where he needs to feel bat on ball just to silence the voices within. This will do nicely.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/cricket/article-2226879/Sachin-Tendulkar-scores-ahead-England-series.html

[Ram]

Cant wait to bump this thread left, right, center, top, bottom, side, inside and outside when the Master proves his doubters wrong (AGAIN) and shows that he has more to offer than just play 'tamasha cricket for his corporate overlords' :giggle:

[Crookbond]

The Little Master seems to be in ominous form ... AGAIN! I would love him to prove me wrong. :yay:

[King Tendulkar]

Cant wait to bump this thread left' date=' right, center, top, bottom, side, inside and outside when the Master proves his doubters wrong ([b']AGAIN) and shows that he has more to offer than just play 'tamasha cricket for his corporate overlords' :giggle:

:two_thumbs_up:

[SLICKR392]

The Little Master seems to be in ominous form ... AGAIN! I would love him to prove me wrong. :yay:

+1 I wouldn't mind him proving us wrong big time but the bhakts....... :nervous:

[Sachin=GOD]

Cant wait to bump this thread left' date=' right, center, top, bottom, side, inside and outside when the Master proves his doubters wrong ([b']AGAIN) and shows that he has more to offer than just play 'tamasha cricket for his corporate overlords' :giggle:

:two_thumbs_up::two_thumbs_up:

[Crookbond]

+1 I wouldn't mind him proving us wrong big time but the bhakts....... :nervous:

For every bhakt, there's a basher - so not quite worried.

[Stan AF]

Was this knock shown in TV/. Does anybody have a h/l link?

[SLICKR392]

^ They showed a bit on the news channels. Wonder where they got it from.

[CSK Fan]

+1 I wouldn't mind him proving us wrong big time but the bhakts....... :nervous:

Be afraid, be very afraid

[GautiMaan]

3 centuries including one for Nayar,Railways doesnt have any notable bowlers?Or is just the pitch:hmmm:

[Ram]

In a very short time. all of ya'all will some hard explaining to do -

0zero, Aaku, asim, asterix, beetle, BERGKAMP, CoverDrive, cowboysfan, cricketnns, CSK Fanatic, dandaroy, Desi Cartman, diga, hitman1980, King Khan, kubrickian, master22, mogambo, Needforspeed, PaceAttack, prasadiyer, PSB_Zone, RedFlow, Sehwag1830, Sidhoni, speedy, The Dark Horse, tothepoint, Tridibans_16, Trundler27, Ultimate_Game, velu, vishalvirsingh, yoda, Yoda-esque, zep1706

[Old guy]

In a very short time. all of ya'all will some hard explaining to do -

im safeB->

[SLICKR392]

In a very short time. all of ya'all will some hard explaining to do -

I hope he does well but what if he doesn't . :lois:

[Yoda-esque]

In a very short time. all of ya'all will some hard explaining to do -

It's an opinion not a right or wrong kind of an answer.If he does well , good for everybody..:giggle:

[Ram]

It's an opinion not a right or wrong kind of an answer.If he does well ' date=' good for everybody..:giggle:[/quote'] You committed blasphemy, there is no redemption.

[Old guy]

You committed blasphemy' date=' there is no redemption. [/quote'] we need new gods :dontknow:

[Ram]

we need new gods :dontknow:

This is not like your car, where you get a new one after your current one's old. There is only one deity.